Night-Time Listenings Wrap-Up: Week of 2/25/13

This week was the last week of Indie Love Month (though no the last for indie game music in general for Night-Time Listenings). We started the week off with the hard guitar riffs of S.S.H. in eXceed 3rd Jade Penetrate. Next we went spelunking in Cave Story. We traverse the fantasy world of Trine. We went tword that mountain in Journey. And finally we built a tower of goo balls with World of Goo.

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Let’s kick things into really high gear with doujin bullet hell smhup eXceed 3rd: Jade Penetrate. The music is done by Saitama Saisyu Heiki, S.S.H. for short, and he’s known for making some really high octane rock music. From the moment the music starts until it ends, rarely will you hear his music take a break. Given the bullet hell genre’s penchant for having uninspired techno music or goofy music un-befitting the genre, hearing S.S.H.’s music while playing eXceed 3rd really got me into the mood of shooting down enemies and dodging hundreds of bullets like a badass. Now then, what other songs do you like from S.S.H.?

Cave Story – ThemeComposed by Pixel

Let’s hit up another doujin game, this time with Cave Story. This game was a single-man affair, a labor of love by creator Pixel for many years. The game was heavily inspired by games like Metroid and Castlevania as the word was large and opened up as you gained more items. The biggest draw to the game was the different outcomes that the player can trigger depending on their actions. If you traded in a weapon for another, it was permanent. If you let a character die, they stayed dead (and stay where they died for the whole game). The music was also done by Pixel, and he created themes that would be loved by fans of Cave Story and remixed countless times. Cave Story went on to be released on WiiWare (albeit with glitched music before being patched), and got remade for the 3DS as Cave Story 3D. So then, what was your favorite character in Cave Story?

Trine – Academy HallwaysComposed by Ari Pulkkinen

Something about Trine made me want to see more games like this. Not the way it plays mind you (it’s average at best), but the look of it. It was just full of color and wonderment, like something out of a fairy tale in the midst of all the brown worlds of today’s games. Last time I played a sidescroller as beautiful as this was Odin Sphere back on the PS2. The music was another element of the game I really loved, forgoing the usage of supposed “epic” arrangements in favor of baroque-like pieces. Violins, harpsichords, and chimes adorn much of the soundtrack to Trine, exuding a sense of mystery and a quaint excitement of what’s next around the corner. I noticed one of the youtube comments in the video say that reading a book to this music certainly changes the mood and gets one really into the story. With that in mind, here’s today’s question: what book would you read to this kind of music?

Journey – NascenceComposed by Austin Wintory

We’re approaching the home stretch of Indie Love Month. March has come, and it’s almost time to say goodbye to this month of indies. But we still have two more songs to go. First up is Journey, a game that broke the mold of what it can be like to play with another person. Taking away all modes of communication normally seen in online games, you now must tackle things in different way, communicating with only chimes and movement. Alone, the feeling is much different as now you’re left with your wits, figuring out how to get to the next part. The music that accompanies Journey is an emotional experience from beginning to end, playing a crucial part in framing they world around you. And all throughout you’ll hear the game’s leitmotif sneak itself into each theme. Journey was nominated for a Grammy for Best Soundtrack In Visual Media. While it didn’t win, Austin Wintory, the game’s composer, was honored nonetheless for being nominated and supported by fans. So then, this might seem like an obvious question to ask, but here we go: Did you cry at any point in the game?

World of Goo – The Eye of the StormComposed by Kyle Gabler

Here we go, the last game of Indie Love Month and a soundtrack just as emotional as Journey. The Eye of the Storm (aka Rain Rain Windy Windy) was probably my favorite track in the entire game. Mostly played during the beginning portions of The World of Goo Corportation Mode, it was a surreal experience, moving and arranging goo balls to a goal while hearing this melancholy song play. And interesting note in regards to the soundtrack to World of Goo, the music is actually older songs that Kyle Gabler (the game’s composer) wrote for either for himself or other people before working on World of Goo. He would take those songs and re-appropriate them for the game. Case in point, the other version of this song, called Rain Rain Windy Windy. It was originally written for a sort of children’s animation a friend was making. He admits that it wasn’t easy, but he tried. For the game, he took just one portion and pitch to make it more somber sounding. What’s the tallest tower of goo you built in the W.G Corporation mode?